The Japanese Army 1931-45 (1) 1931-42

Osprey Men at Arms #362

by Philip Jowett, Stephen Andrew (Illustrator)

During Japan's devastating Pacific offensive of the 1941-42 period of World War II, the Allies paid a high price for their failure to take seriously an army which had already been fighting in Manchuria and China for ten years. That army was a unique blend of the ancient and the modern and its up-to-date equipment and resourceful tactics served an almost medieval code of unquestioning obedience and ruthless aggression. This first of two titles covers the organisation, equipment, uniforms and character of Japanese ground forces in the Chinese and early Pacific campaigns, illustrated with insignia charts, many rare photographs, and eight meticulous uniform plates.

Genres: History, Japan, Japanese History

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Philip Jowett was born in Leeds in 1961 and has been interested in military history for as long as he can remember. His first Osprey book was Chinese Civil War Armies 1911–49, and since then he has published numerous other titles for Osprey including, The Russo-Japanese War 1904–05, Japan's Asian Allies 1941–45 and Armour in China 1920–1950. He lives in North Lincolnshire, UK.

Reviews

[Billy Leon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be somewhat disappointing. It does contain some very valuable information containing the units involved in some of the Japanese infantry divisions early in the war. But that is early in the book. The book devotes much of its short read into the uniforms and glosses over some of the equipment carried at the individual soldiers level. On that level the book is very informative, probably more so than other Osprey titles. However the book is desperately lacking in substance when it comes to the armor and artillery used by the army. There is little information on artillery, and absolutely none for armor. I can only hope that subsequent titles have more information. This book mostly concentrates on the soldier and is little more than a fashion guide to the uniforms he wore. Probably of some value to a modeler or wargamer. But for the specifications of the weaponry employed, the reader will definitely need to read from a different source.

[Michael Eklund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both these books about the Japanese Army (1 & 2) are rather excellent.

It has also some background about the Japanese propaganda about liberating their fellow Asians from white colonialism (Asia for the Asiates!), but in practice the Japanese racism was even worse. With executions of Chinese civilians as an initiation rate, and medieval brutalitity in the fight against guerillas ("Burn all, seize all, kill all").
The Japanese society was deeply racist, and all non-Japanese was intrinsically inferior to the lowliest Japanese.

Still, with uniforms falling apart, with weapons inferior to the enemys, with supply failing and resulting in malnutrition and tropical diseases going rampant, the Japanese soldier still fought to the last bullet, and the last life.

Very good overview of the different branches uniforms.